Defence minister Rajnath Singh has claimed Indian defence exports would touch an all-time high of Rs 35,000–40,000 crore by 2026. Singh, who was delivering the Field Marshal SHFJ Manekshaw Memorial Lecture organised by Symbiosis International University in Pune on Tuesday, also said that for the first time, of the products procured by the defence sector, 80 per cent are indigenised.

The minister who was answering a question raised by a student said that in 2014, exports were at Rs 900 crore. “This has since grown to Rs 15,000-16,000 crore and is expected to be Rs 35,000-40,000 crores by 2026,” he said.

Creation of a proper ecosystem, he said, was responsible for this sea change in the manner the country functioned. The Centre, Singh said, has taken up structural reforms across sectors. He referred to the bad-loan crisis (non-performing assets) of banks which had affected the capacity of financial institutions to lend and function.

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“We took steps like restructuring of bad loans, merging banks, and privatising some to rescue the banks. Now there is no dearth of capital with banks which has allowed them to lend freely for businesses,” he said. Banking reforms, which saw some public sector banks being merged, were taken up by the Centre to revive the sector.

The defence minister spoke of the importance of values in human society, referring to Nuremberg trials wherein former Nazi officers were tried for their role in the Holocaust. The officers, Singh said, had tried to take the defence that they were following orders. “However, judges refused to heed to that notion, saying the officers had their own conscience that should have prevented them from carrying out those orders,” he said.

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Singh urged students to maintain their conscience while taking decisions in their roles as management professionals. The central government’s policies to help start-ups has resulted in over 90,000 startups in the country of which 100 are unicorns. Reforms in laws and in Research and Development (RnD) have helped the country achieve ease of doing business. “We have reduced red tape, making it easy for young entrepreneurs to start business,” he said.

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